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Our Mission Statement has been and continues to be true, meaningful and comprehensive tax reform accomplished by:
Reducing real estate taxes through capping government spending;
Overseeing and monitoring our taxing authorities so they are held accountable to fiscal spending of our tax dollars
Our Executive Board is made up of a group of professional business leaders in Volusia County. We meet regularly to discuss strategy, legislative actions, and to formulate ideas to help in bringing about reform and accountability. We issue regular e-mail alerts and press releases about our actions.
We have subcommittees that are active including :
- Research Committees looking in-depth at proposals made by local and state leaders and researching other plans that have been tried elsewhere around the country .
- Budget Review Committees for each our local governments
Join us as a volunteer to help us accomplish our mission.
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Volusia Tax Reform Executive Board
Executive Director -
Margie Patchett
Members -
Maureen France
Douglas Kosarek
Stuart Patchett
Tom Blawn
Ed Connor
Steve Koenig
Tony Welch
Marvin Miller
Dick Pollard
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Volusia Tax Reform Successes -
- We collected thousands of signatures on a petition to the County of Volusia that requested they vote to go to the rollback rate in 2006
- We rallied 600+ people to attend the Volusia County Budget Hearing in September, 2006 and insisted they go to rollback, which they voted to do, saving the taxpayers of Volusia County $34 million!
- We rallied people to attend Daytona Beach City Commission budget hearings which resulted in millions of dollars in savings
- We have attended countless governmental meetings to monitor what is going on inside our government.
- We have sponsored & attended numerous rallies and town hall meetings attracting thousands of citizens to these events and our web site.
- We have helped other grassroots citizen organizations get started around the state
- We have served as a clearinghouse for people around the country to contact us about how the tax increases have affected them if they are a property owner in Volusia County . We have heard hundreds and hundreds of terrible stories of people losing their homes and businesses and future retirement homes.
- We have met with citizens and even government employees that have advised us of government waste.
- WE HAVE THE ENTIRE STATE INVOLVED IN TAX REFORM AND WE HAVE LEAD THE WAY IN THE BIGGEST TAX OVERHAUL IN FLORIDA'S HISTORY
- We have taken 2 bus trips to Tallahassee to lobby our legislators and sent others to meetings on our behalf in Tallahassee.
- We have monitored the progress of the legislature on tax reform bills daily, throughout the session.
- We have helped start a statewide organization of local grassroots groups: Floridians for Property Tax Reform that has taken their lead from VTR. Their mission mirrors ours
- We have a member of our Executive Board that is serving as the co-chair of FPTR with Jose Consuela of Miami and others of us that are in leadership advisory roles with FPTR
- We have helped organize a statewide rally of nearly 800 citizens on 17 buses to go to Tallahassee and ask our legislature to act. Speaker Marco Rubio and Gov.Crist spoke at these rallies.
- We have worked with local officials including our Property Appraiser Morgan Gilreath to discuss ideas that would be beneficial for all.
- We have been the speaker at numerous community organizations and served on panel discussions about tax forum.
- We have served as a regular source for local media on tax reform and have appeared on TV news shows and in numerous news articles and radio programs
- We have initiated public records requests to learn more about where governments are spending their revenues
- We sponsored a business round table discussion where Speaker Marco Rubio came and spoke to Volusia County Businessmen and women about tax reform
- We have set up a Government Waste Hotline(386) 236-2604 to gather information from citizens (and even government employees) to advise us of cases of waste, fraud or abuse that they have seen.
Please Join Us in continuing our success for the future of our cities, counties and state.
Donate to invest and help us reach our goals of comprehensive tax reform, responsible spending and oversight and accountability of our tax dollars.
Click here to download the Power Point presentation
You MUST see it to believe it....
DID YOU KNOW CITIZENS ARE CONCERNED WE COULD BE THE NEXT CALIFORNIA
DID YOU KNOW WE ALREADY ARE THE NEXT CALIFORNIA
DID YOU KNOW THAT VOLUSIA TAX REFORM IS CONCERNED ABOUT US BEING THE NEXT DETROIT OR PITTSBURGH...
SEE JUST HOW IN DEBT WE ARE IN VOLUSIA COUNTY...
Click here to download a Power Point presentation that Everyone in Volusia County must see. Then tell your family and friends. Be prepared to get sick to your stomach.
Margie was featured in the Orlando Sentinel as the "Tax ReformCrusader"
Tax-reform Crusader
THIS WEEK'S SPOTLIGHT: MARGIE PATCHETT
June 01, 2008|By Mary Shanklin, Orlando Sentinel Staff Writer
Margie Patchett launched the anti-tax group Volusia Tax Reform in 2006 and quickly rallied hundreds of people to descend on the Volusia County Council and other governments to demand tax cuts -- which they got. Under her leadership, the group helped bring tax reform to the state level. Most recently her volunteers helped push the state Taxation and Budget Reform Commission to put an amendment before voters that would shift the responsibility of paying for schools away from property taxes and onto other sources, such as sales taxes. She spoke recently with Sentinel reporter Mary Shanklin.... read the rest here
Newsletters 2.11.10
Everyone,
In our last email to you regarding Holly Hill's real estate taxes collected had incorrect figures. Unfortunately, we had our decimal in the wrong place... (Note, when you are dealing with millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions and billions, it is easy to do..) So Note the following is the correct figures and charts:
- REAL ESTATE TAXES COLLECTED IN 2003
$1,489,626.00
- REAL ESTATE TAXES COLLECTED IN 2008
$2,542,372.00
- THE REAL ESTATE TAXES THE CITY OF HOLLY HILL COLLECTED INCREASED 70 PERCENT FROM 2003 TO 2008
Click Here for the rest of this Newsletter.
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Latest Breaking News!
Press Release 4-19-10
Margie Patchett, Executive Director of Volusia Tax Reform has announced her intent to run for the Volusia County At Large Seat.
"We have been telling our local government how to get the job done for the past four years. They have failed. It is time to show them how to do it," said Margie Patchett. "In 2006 we told our local governments that if they did not reign in spending that our economy would go into a downward spiral," she added.
Unemployment rates are at the highest in Volusia County history. Also bankruptcies, foreclosures are hitting record highs as well.
"Tough times call for tough decisions and it is now time to elect those persons to office that will have the courage to do what is right for our citizens," said Margie Patchett.
Mrs. Patchett's announcement has sent a resounding energy throughout the community.
"Margie is a very motivated and tireless worker in stopping government waste and keeping our taxes low," stated Kim Rowland, President of Volusia Property Owner's Association. "We all owe her for her efforts in restoring balance and common sense to government! Without people like her, there would be no checks and balances in government...just spending! This is great news for all property owners and tax payers in Volusia County! Our group will be endorsing her enthusiastically!" he added.
For more information on Margie's campaign, please visit her website
www.Margie4thepeople.com
Press Release 4-19-10:
The Heritage Foundation, the nation's leading conservative think tank, is starting a grassroots advocacy group to actively encourage lawmakers to embrace its free-market, limited government policy prescriptions for what ails America.
The Heritage Foundation has requested Margie Patchett to attend a two day seminar in Miami, Florida on April 23 and 24th. This is an invitation only event.
"I am very honored to be picked for this event by such a prestigious group as the Heritage Foundation," stated Margie Patchett. "I look forward to the information that will be discussed which will focus exclusively on policy politics. I am certain the information learned from this event will enable us to implement it at the local level," she added.
For more information on Margie's campaign, please visit her website
www.Margie4thepeople.com
If you missed the April Fools Day Town Hall at Pelican Bay you shouldn’t have!
The crowd was fired up and so should you.
Click Here to download the power point presentation about the Volusia Forever program in our county with your tax dollars “Hard at Work”.
Be prepared to be outraged!
Please send this to you everyone you know in Volusia County and be sure to sign up for our Newsletter e-mail list.
TAKE ACTION!
CONTACT OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS
Here is the information .Click Here
Letter: 4/02/10
Last night at Pelican Bay Club we witnessed a Sarah Palin moment in Volusia County history. This was truly a turning point as much as Scott Brown was in Massachusetts. My good friend Margie Patchett, Founder and Executive Director of Volusia Tax Reform announced she had filed as a candidate for the At Large County Council seat presently occupied by Joie Alexander who is termed out this year.
Upon the announcement, the entire room exploded in applause and a visible look of relief that , at last, we had a candidate so committed to the interests of the Taxpayer that there was real hope for our citizens.
I've served on the Executive Committee with Margie for three years and I can say she has a grasp of the issues far and away above anyone presently sitting on the County Council. Her drive and determination to turn Volusia County from a tax strapped by water with increasing tax rates and sinking tax base into an efficient agency which the Citizens can afford and will attract business and jobs to our area is the type of commitment that can energize a community. This was in evidence last night.
We literally witnessed folks who said thay had planned to move out of the County because the elected leaders were unresponsive to the citizens in the model of Washington D.C. Now that Margie is running they plan to stay.
Once the group saw the excellent Power Point by Paul Poole (available on the VTR website
www.volusiataxreform.com) they got even more fired up over the waste of taxpayer dollars and the sinking bond ratings as a result of fiscal mismanagement by our County leaders. When they shouted out "What can we do about it?” Margie was ready with an answer. Support her candidacy.
Ed Connor
Volusia Tax Reform
Ormond Beach,FL
Topic: Florida Forever and your tax dollars
DID YOU KNOW:
THROUGH THE FLORIDA FOREVER PROGRAM, THE CITIES AND COUNTIES ARE USING YOUR TAX DOLLARS TO PURCHASE CONSERVATION PROPERTY?
DID YOU KNOW:
THAT PROPERTY WHICH HAD BEEN ASSESSED BY THE PROPERTY APPRAISER FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS FOR $77,500.00 WAS PURCHASED BY THE COUNTY OF VOLUSIA FOR $1.5 MILLION DOLLARS?
DID YOU KNOW:
THE CITIES AND COUNTIES ARE PURCHASING EASEMENTS FROM 4 TO 6 MILLION DOLLARS OF YOUR TAX DOLLARS?
WATCH THE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT AS SEEN ON CHANNEL 9 NEWS:
http://www.wftv.com/video/22584811
Click Here for the rest of this Story.
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